Digital ID tag updates missing pet notices

The digital pet ID tags enable anyone with a smartphone to scan the badge and alert an owner that their pet has been found.

The digital pet ID tags enable anyone with a smartphone to scan the badge and alert an owner that their pet has been found.

Photo: Courtesy

Photo: Courtesy

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The digital pet ID tags enable anyone with a smartphone to scan the badge and alert an owner that their pet has been found.

The digital pet ID tags enable anyone with a smartphone to scan the badge and alert an owner that their pet has been found.

Photo: Courtesy

Digital ID tag updates missing pet notices

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A digital pet identification tag offered by the City of San Antonio could someday render obsolete the traditional practice of handing out fliers for missing pets.

Animal Care Services has partnered with online company PetHub to offer the digital ID tags that allow anyone with a smart phone to scan the tag and alert an owner that his or her animal has been found. ACS assistant director Shannon Sims said most residents don’t have a microchip scanner, but nearly everyone has a smart phone.

“It’s going to allow a citizen to scan the tag and that animal never has to come to the shelter,” Sims said. “The grand vision is that one day, every animal with a microchip can’t be lost and every single animal is walking around with a PetHub tag, so if they do get lost in the community that community can help get that animal back home.”

Pet owners can create free pet profiles online that include names, ages, breeds, photos and owner’s contact information. They can also enter other data, such as vaccination records, allergies, medications, any sicknesses the pet may have and the pet’s primary veterinarian.

A free, basic account comes with each tag that’s a little bigger than a quarter. Made of aluminum and coated with an epoxy seal, each tag bears the phrase “I have a home” on the front and a black-and-white QR code on the back, along with a call center phone number.

Good Samaritans can call the PetHub call center to talk with a live person about linking a phone call or to get more information.

The intent, he said, is for direct connection within the community to get the animal back home sooner, without involving ACS officer, live release staff or the shelter.

The basic service is free. PetHub also offers a premium service for $39 per year, which includes instant notification when a pet’s tag is scanned and the location of where the tag was scanned, among other benefits. Participants can use the coupon code “SAXTEN” to receive a $10 discount. With each upgraded account, ACS will get a special donation. According to the company’s website, a “found pet hotline” staff is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

In July 2015 a new ordinance required that all cats, dogs and ferrets within city limits have a registered microchip, the primary way to license pets living in San Antonio. ACS offer free microchips at monthly Microchip Mania! clinics and at the ACS shelter.

Sims said there is a 75 percent identification rate with the microchip program. The digital ID tag also meets the city’s ordinance requirement for a rabies tag.